Speaker 1: 1:42

Shift work can be brutal, but it doesn't have to be. Welcome to a healthy shift. My name is Roger Sutherland, certified nutritionist, veteran law enforcement officer and 24-7 shift worker for almost four decades. Through this podcast, I aim to educate shift workers, using evidence-based methods, to not only survive the rigours of shift work, but thrive. My goal is to empower shift workers to improve their health and wellbeing so they have more energy to do the things they love. Enjoy today's show and welcome back to the A Healthy Shift podcast everyone. My name, roger Sutherland.

Speaker 1: 2:24

Today, we're tackling a concept that I hear all the time, particularly from my amazing shift working clients, and it's something that we really need to rethink Now. I've had a number of conversations around this of late, and I think it's something that's really, really important for you to not only ponder. It makes sense, but I want you to have a really good think about how you are going about shift work and how you're sabotaging it yourself. And this episode is going to cover one particular aspect of that, and it's about feeling that feeling of being absolutely shattered, finally getting to a day off and then hitting the snooze button repeatedly to rack up that solid eight or nine hours sleep, because that's what we need, right? Well, you wake up, feeling refreshed, thinking, boom, that's what my body needed. I finally listened to it. But lo and behold, an hour or two later and the wheels have completely fallen off. You feel sluggish, you're tired and you're just playing garbage for the absolute rest of the day. And what's the immediate go-to explanation that you tell yourself in your mind? Oh, it's just shift work. You know, I'm always tired because of shift work. Now, don't get me wrong, because shift work does present unique challenges to our sleep and our energy. But that feeling of being drained after a long lie-in on that day off, that's not necessarily shift work's fault. In fact, you are actually making things worse. Stay with me.

Speaker 1: 4:03

So what's the science behind the sleep in struggle? So let's dive into the science here, because it's important that we fully understand this. Once you understand this, you understand how it is that shift work is sabotaged. When you have a massive liein, say, you're sleeping until 10 or 11 o'clock, or even midday after your last shift and it's your first day off, you're essentially doing two things that are incredibly disruptive to your internal clock. First off, you are shifting your sleep window to much later than it normally would be. That's number one and number two. What you're then doing is you are prolonging your exposure to the darkness and you are delaying your exposure to natural light.

Speaker 1: 4:53

Now, our bodies operate on a roughly you know around about a 24-hour internal clock, which is known as our circadian rhythm. Now, this is key. You hear me talk about it all the time. It's because it is literally that important. Our circadian rhythm needs to be running properly in line with what we are actually seeing with our eyes day to day. Now, this rhythm is primarily set by light and by darkness. So when you wake up late, what you're doing is you are literally telling your body uh-huh, it's still nighttime Now, even though the sun might be high in the sky, because your eyes are closed and you're sleeping with your blinds closed. This throws your entire circadian rhythm further out of alignment with what time it is during the day.

Speaker 1: 5:41

Now, while you might wake up and you might feel nice and refreshed, once your body starts seeing that light at that odd time and it starts getting completely confused with what is actually going on. And this is what is known as social jet lag, where your body's in one time zone and what you're actually seeing is in a different time zone, and that confusion is why shift workers feel so garbage most of the time. I want you to think of it like this your body is actually expecting certain things to happen at certain times and it expects to be hungry around your usual diurnal mealtimes breakfast, lunch and dinner. It expects to be alert when it's light and to start winding down for sleep when it gets dark. Now, when you sleep in for hours, you have confused every single one of these signals. This misalignment can absolutely wreak havoc on how you feel. It will mess up with your hunger cues, which will make you feel off, and your food craving will be for highly palatable carbohydrates and fats and all of those unhealthy types of foods. It can also make it harder for you to fall asleep later that night, even when you're exhausted. Or you might find yourself actually falling asleep on the couch early in the evening.

Speaker 1: 7:00

Classic shift worker Plopping on the couch at 7 o'clock, 7.30, watching TV after dinner, falling asleep, waking up at 11 o'clock can't go back to sleep. Waking up at 11 o'clock can't go back to sleep. Hi shift workers, put your hand up. I know we all do it. Now. This is not listening to your body. What it's doing is inadvertently making things much harder for it to regulate itself. You are actually torturing your body. Torturing it, torturing it, punishing it, call it whatever you want, but you are causing lots of grief to it.

Speaker 1: 7:34

So what is the solution? I'll tell you it's proactive sleep. It's not reactive sleep. Let me talk about that. So sleeping in isn't the answer. What is Well? The solution is to be proactive with your sleep, not reactive.

Speaker 1: 7:49

So, instead of trying to catch up, what you need to do is you need to aim to go to bed earlier and get those crucial hours of sleep before your body's sleep drive completely dissipates. Now, I get it. I know, remember, I've done this for 40 years. Life happens. Sometimes going to bed earlier just is not possible. You finished a late shift, maybe you've got a family commitment, or maybe your shift ended so late that getting into bed at that time or that earlier time just seems impossible. And in these situations, here's what I actually recommend Even if you've had a shorter night's sleep, even if your afternoon shift worked until one o'clock, still aim to get up at your usual time or as close to it as possible.

Speaker 1: 8:37

Yes, you might think it's going to hurt, but the absolute key here is to get out in bright light as soon as you can Now. This early light exposure is incredibly powerful for anchoring your circadian rhythm. It tells your brain okay, time to start the day, let's get some movement in. A short walk outside is perfect. And eat your meals at those normal diurnal day walker regular times breakfast, lunch and dinner, when you have breakfast at 1030 and then your lunch at 230 in the afternoon and then dinner at 7. All these actions send inconsistent signals to your body and we need to make sure that we're getting them at the right time. Our body anticipates it. It metabolizes and stores properly. Our body just runs properly and this is what helps to keep our internal clock actually regulated and gets us feeling better now because you got up early.

Speaker 1: 9:38

If you absolutely need a little extra rest because you've, you know you were up early and you work late you haven't had enough sleep and, heaven forbid, we've all been there. Right, we all get to that, but that sleeping is doing you more damage. So how can we combat this? A strategic power nap can be your best friend. Oh, roger, I can't nap. I wake up feeling worse. It's because you didn't nap. You slept. Now I'm only talking a 20 to 30 minute nap here, ideally before 3pm in the afternoon. Now, this is just enough to take the edge off your sleepiness, without sending you into a deep sleep. That would make it much harder for you to sleep at night. Then your goal is to get into bed earlier that night and get yourself a solid seven to nine hours sleep during your natural dark time, when your body expects to be sleeping. Now, I know I don't ever get to catch up with my wife, or I never get to catch up with my husband, and, oh, we've got to watch one more episode of Netflix because we haven't seen each other. Or I want to play video games for another two hours. That's no good. Get to bed earlier, because I'll give you that.

Speaker 1: 10:49

What about the? Would you set an alarm test? I ask you to apply this Every single time you're sitting there on your couch at night when you think, oh, I really should be going to bed. I want you to apply the. Would you set your alarm test? Let's address it, because it's one of the biggest culprits that keeps us from getting to bed on time. And it's just that. Oh, just one more episode or just five more minutes scrolling on the phone. Here's a simple test I want you to ask yourself next time you are debating whether to go to bed or just one more episode, would I set an alarm for 3 or 4 am to wake up and do what I'm doing right now? I can guarantee to you I know what the answer is, because the answer will be no, and for most things it will absolutely be no. Then why are you letting it keep you awake when you should be sleeping?

Speaker 1: 11:41

Sleeping is unbelievably important. Your sleep is more valuable than that extra episode or those few more minutes of social media. Here's a tip for you when you're watching Netflix, that episode's going to be there forever. You can watch it the next day, the day after that, the day after that. Why are you sitting up, sacrificing sleep to watch it now? And social media? Really? Just go the hell to bed, will you, for God's sake? Because that's what's going to make such a big difference to your life. And here is the underwritten major thing that I need you all to totally understand. This is to be the biggest takeaway from today's episode, and it's something that I want you to engrave right across your brain.

Speaker 1: 12:30

You cannot catch up on sleep, this idea of banking sleep or accumulating sleep debt that you can pay off later with a huge loan is simply not how our physiology works effectively. Now, while you might feel like temporarily better after a long sleep because, oh, I've listened to my body and I've had a sleep in what you're actually doing is disrupting your circadian rhythm. Have you ever noticed that even after that long sleep in, within a few hours you start to feel like garbage? And the reason why you start to feel like garbage is because you've got social jet lag, you've completely thrown your rhythm right out and, no, you can't truly bank sleep either. Our bodies thrive on this consistency, not compensation. It's not an ATM machine. You can't just put cash in and take it out whenever you feel like it, and treating sleep like the cash, you just can't do that. It doesn't work that way. So what we've got to do is we've got to find a healthy sleep rhythm.

Speaker 1: 13:32

Now, I know we are on rotating shifts and they're all different, but for many of my clients in fact, majority of my clients this is one of the very first things that we work on, and when we work on this routine, it's incredible how quickly things change for them, that it just dispels what their perception of how they might feel compared to how they actually do feel. Implementing the practical strategy to achieve simple sleep is the biggest game changer in their overall health and well-being and energy levels. And everything nutrition everything just changes. It's an area where I see rapid and profound shifts in their own wellbeing, their mood and their ability to perform at their absolute best, both at work and more so because this is my motto, remember more so in their personal lives, because when I work with clients, the one thing that I want them to have is more energy to do the things that they enjoy outside of their shift working job with their loved ones, with their partners, with their children, with their family, whatever, it doesn't matter. I just want you to have more energy to do all of that, because when you've got more energy to do all of that and you enjoy that, it transfers into your role at work and you start to feel so much better. All right, keep that in mind. I want you to keep that in mind. So if you are someone who is struggling with sleep, if you feel like you're constantly fighting your own body's rhythms, or if you simply want to optimize your sleep for a healthier and a more energetic life. Please reach out.

Speaker 1: 15:23

This is one of the primary areas that I actually help clients in with simple habits and routines in my one-on-one coaching. It's not about macros and calories and taking photos and weighing yourself and getting to the gym six times a week. It's about habits and routines. Remember, I've done it. I know what is really difficult for you to deal with, but habits and routines are one of those things that you can and this is where I help. I help clients with this. Sleep is just so foundational to everything in our lives, from our physical health to just mental health, mental clarity and our own emotional resilience. So keep that in mind.

Speaker 1: 16:06

You can find the link to connect with me in the show notes. Go down to the show notes and you'll see there's a link there to one-on-one coaching. Let's have a conversation show notes and you'll see there's a link there to one-on-one coaching. Let's have a conversation. Let's work together to get your sleep back on track, because I do find that when people do these habits and routines, they really, really start to gain momentum, feel better about themselves and start turning up as a better partner for their partners and their children. They don't have to get what's left of you all the time. All right, keep that in mind.

Speaker 1: 16:39

Okay, now I would really really like it if you would go into your app and just give us a rating. On Spotify, you can just hit that five stars, and on Apple, you can hit the five stars and take an extra few minutes to just give it a little review. It helps to get good, solid, evidence-based information out there. Thank you for listening and I'll catch you on the next one. Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe so you get notified whenever a new episode is released. It would also be ever so helpful if you could leave a rating and review on the app you're currently listening on. If you want to know more about me or work with me, you can go to ahealthyshiftcom. I'll catch you on the next one.